System and method for associating keywords with a web page

ABSTRACT

A web page optimization engine for optimizing a web page is described. The web page optimization engine includes a keyword mapping engine configured to generate a keyword map including a listing of keywords, where each keyword is associated with one or more web pages. The web page optimization engine further includes a map reversal engine configured to generate a web page map including a listing of web page subject matters, where each web page subject matter is associated with one or more keywords based on the associations from the keyword map. The web page optimization engine yet further includes a web page generation engine configured to generate a web page for a web page subject matter in the web page map to include at least one of the one or more keywords for that web page subject matter.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Consumers increasingly utilize the Internet to make purchases of goodsand services. Consumers make these purchases utilizing a purchasinginterface implemented as a web site including a web page or a series ofweb pages. A web site may be configured to offer products, includingboth goods and/or services, for sale. The web site may include a searchengine to allow the consumer to search through the products offered forsale. The web site may be created and maintained by the provider of thegoods and/or services or by another entity. The web site may beconfigured to provide users with information to assist the user indeciding to make a purchase. The web site may further includefunctionality configured to allow the user to easily purchase one ormore goods or services.

A user desiring to make a purchase over the Internet often begins thepurchasing process by entering one or more keywords in a search engine.The search engine uses the keywords to generate a listing of searchresults, where each search result may be associated with a provider ofgoods or services associated with the keywords. The search resultslisting is often quite large and may include multiple pages of searchresults where each page includes some portion of the search results. Forexample, a first web page may be used to display the first ten searchresults, a second web page may be used to display the second ten searchresults, etc. Because of the large number of search results, and thecorrespondingly large number of pages displaying those search results, auser may have difficulty finding websites of interest to the user,particularly if the relevant website is displayed on a fourth, fifth, oreven later page of search results.

In order to assist users, search engines often use an automated rankingalgorithm to rank the search results based on relevancy. The relevanceof each search result is generally determined based on a number offactors, including the content or subject matter of the web page, thenumber of other web pages having links to that web page, etc. Web pagesubject matter may include a product featured on the web page andrelated information, the subject of a news story displayed on the webpage, a category associated with items displayed on the web page, etc.However, determining the relevancy of a particular web page to a keywordsearch is an inherently difficult task. If a web page does not happen touse the same terms that a user might include in a search for that webpage, then identifying the web page as relevant to the search is oftenquite difficult.

What is needed is a system and method for identifying keywords relevantto a web page. What is further needed is a system and method formodifying a web page for the sale of products to include the keywordsassociated with the product. It will be appreciated that while theteachings herein describe certain features and advantages that may beachieved, the teachings herein may be used to implement systems andmethods that do not necessarily achieve any of these features oradvantages, but rather achieve other features and advantages.

SUMMARY

One embodiment relates to a web page optimization engine for optimizinga web page. The web page optimization engine includes a keyword mappingengine configured to generate a keyword map including a listing ofkeywords, where each keyword is associated with one or more web pages.The web page optimization engine further includes a map reversal engineconfigured to generate a web page map including a listing of web pagesubject matters, where each web page subject matter is associated withone or more keywords based on the associations from the keyword map. Theweb page optimization engine yet further includes a web page generationengine configured to generate a web page for a web page subject matterin the web page map to include at least one of the one or more keywordsfor that web page subject matter.

Another embodiment relates to a method for optimizing a web page for aproduct. The method includes aggregating data from at least two users togenerate a keyword map including a listing of keywords, where eachkeyword is associated with one or more products, and generating aproduct map including a listing of products, where each product isassociated with one or more keywords based on the associations from thekeyword map. The method further includes generating at least one webpage for a product in the product map to include at least one of the oneor more keywords for that product.

Another embodiment relates to a web page optimization system foroptimizing a product web page for a product. The system includes asearch engine configured to receive one or more keywords, generate asearch results listing based on the one or more keywords, the searchresults including one or more products, and generate an associationindicator based on the one or more keyword and activity of a userresponsive to the search results listing. The system further includes aweb page optimization engine having a keyword mapping engine configuredto generate a keyword map including a listing of keywords based on theassociation, where each keyword is associated with one or more products.The engine further includes a map reversal engine configured to generatea product map including a listing of products, where each product isassociated with one or more keywords based on the associations from thekeyword map and a web page generation engine configured to generate atleast one web page for a product in the product map to include at leastone of the one or more keywords for that product.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a web page optimization systemfor optimizing web pages, according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a screen shot that illustrates a search results web page,according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 3A is a keyword to product map including a listing of keywords andthe products that were associated with those items by a search engine,according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 3B is a product to keyword map including a listing of products andthe keywords that have been associated with each product, according toan exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a web page implementing a purchasing interface for a productthat is associated with a listing of keywords in the map of FIG. 3B,where the web page is configured to include the listing of keywordsassociated with the product in the map, according to an exemplaryembodiment;

FIG. 5 is a web page for a primary product and further for additionalitems that are similar to the primary product, according to an exemplaryembodiment;

FIG. 6 is a web page for a broad category of products that is associatedwith keywords in the reverse map of FIG. 3B, according to an exemplaryembodiment; and

FIG. 7 is flowchart illustrating a method for determining keywordsassociated with a product by reversing associations between keyword andproducts and inserting the keyword in a web page for the product,according to an exemplary embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIG. 1, a web site system 100 including a web pageoptimization engine 105 for optimizing web pages 110 is shown, accordingto an exemplary embodiment. The web page optimization engine 105optimizes the web pages 110 by making it easier for an automated rankingalgorithm of a search engine 120 to determine whether the web pages 110are relevant to a particular keyword search. The web pages 110, whichmay be generated by a web page generation engine 108, are optimized byincluding keywords shown to be associated with purchases or selectionsof products being offered for sale through web pages 110. The abovedescribed web site system 100 and search engine 120 are configured tointeract with each other and one or more users 102 through acommunication network 130, such as the Internet.

Web site system 100 and search engine 120 may be implemented ascomputing systems or computer programs to be executed using a computersystem. The web site system 100 and search engine 120 may be implementedusing a single computing system (e.g., comprising one or more servers)or separate computer systems configured to communicate through acommunication channel, such as a direct connection or a communicationnetwork 130. Methods and systems described herein as being associatedwith a particular engine or interface may alternatively be associatedwith a different engine or interface to achieve the functions describedherein.

Web page optimization engine 105, hereinafter referred to asoptimization engine 105, includes a keyword mapping engine 106 and a mapreversal engine 107. Keyword mapping engine 106 is configured togenerate and maintain a listing of keywords where each keyword has beenassociated with one or more products. Map reversal engine 107 isconfigured to generate a listing of products, where each product isassociated with keywords, based on the listing of products maintained bykeyword mapping engine 106.

Web page generation engine 108 is configured to generate one or more webpages or other purchasing interfaces for one or more products whichinclude the keywords associated with that product by map reversal engine107. Generating a web page may include modifying an existing web page toinclude the keywords. Although specific engines are described asperforming specific functions, it should be understood that any functionmay be implemented by any alternative engine to perform the functionsdescribed herein.

Web pages 110 may relate to one or more products and may be configuredto provide information about the products including photographs,detailed product descriptions, testimonials, etc. Web pages 110 mayfurther include functionality allowing users 102 to purchase the productassociated with a particular Web page 110, either directly or by linkingto other web pages. Web pages 110 are described in further detail belowwith reference to FIG. 4. Alternatively, web pages 110 may be contentweb pages unrelated to on-line retail or purchasing, such as on the website of a news source, interest group, and so on.

Search engine 120 may be any type of search engine configured to receiveone or more search terms, hereinafter referred to as keywords, andgenerate a listing of search results. Search engine 120 may beconfigured to retrieve data, files, or documents from a database ornetwork, such as the Internet, based on the keywords entered by a user102 or other user of a search engine website. The listing of searchresults may be a listing of web pages or web sites offering informationor functionality associated with the keywords that were entered by theuser. The listing of search results may be displayed on multiple pages.For example, a first web page may display the first 20 results, a secondpage may display the second 20 results, etc.

The web site system 100 may include its own product search engine 118which may be used to search for products within the web site implementedby the web site system 100. Search engine 118 may be any type of searchengine configured to performing searching functions as described abovewith reference to search engine 120. Search engine 118 may be configuredto display items associated with the keywords and also offered for salethrough the web pages 110. For example, web pages 110 may implement apurchasing interface for a bicycle seller. The search engine 118 may beconfigured to allow a user to search through all of the bicycles thatare available for sale through the bicycle seller and display the searchresults using web pages 110. For example, each search result may beassociated with a web page 110 for a specific bicycle.

Referring now to FIGS. 2, 3A, and 3B, the manner in which web pageoptimization engine 105 identifies keywords to be associated with a webpage is described in greater detail. Referring first to FIG. 2, whensearch engine 118 is provided with one or more search terms from a user,the results of the search may be provided by search engine 118 in theform of data, such as data for a search results web page, which mayinclude a listing of content-based web pages associated with the searchterm. FIG. 2 illustrates a search results web page 200 displayed usingsearch results data from search engine 118, according to an exemplaryembodiment. While the search results data provided by search engine 118is generally described with reference to FIG. 2 in the context of adisplayable search results web page, it will be understood that thesearch results data may be provided in other forms, such as, forexample, a direct data input to web page optimization engine 105 oranother component of system 100.

In the illustrated example, search engine 118 has executed a search forthe search term “bicycles” in field 205 and has provided a set oflisting of search results consisting of hyperlinks 210 to content-basedweb pages regarding, for example, products associated with the searchterm “bicycles.” In this embodiment, hyperlinks 210 may represent webpages 110 providing detailed information about various individualproducts for sale. A subset of the resulting hyperlinks 210 aredisplayed along with a button 215 to allow the next set of searchresults to be accessed.

Web page 200 may be configured to allow a user 102 to select one or moreof the hyperlinks in the search results listing to display a web page110 associated with the particular search result that was selected.Search engine 118 may further be configured to communicate the keywordsthat were used to generate the search results and an indication of thesearch result that was selected based on the entry of the keyword byuser 102. The keyword association with a particular product may becommunicated to web page optimization engine 105.

Although FIG. 2 is discussed in the context of search engine 118, itwill be appreciated that search engine 120 may also be configured tocommunicate keywords that were used to generate search results and anindication of the search result that was selected based on the entry ofthe keyword by user 102. For example, if a user performs a search for aproduct from search engine 120, and lands directly on a web page 110associated with that product, the keywords that caused the user to landon that page may be communicated by the search engine 120 to the webpage optimization engine 105. This information may be used alone or incombination with the information from search engine 118.

Referring now to FIG. 3A, a keyword to product map 300, hereinafter map300, including a listing of keywords and the products that wereassociated with those keywords by search engine 118 is shown, accordingto an exemplary embodiment. Keyword to product map 300 may be generatedby aggregating keyword associations with products from multiple searchesperformed by multiple users 102. The keyword association data may bereceived either from the search engine 118 or from independent searchengine 120. The keyword to product map may be constructed by monitoringand recording the activity of a user on the website and makingassumptions and/or calculations based on the activity, for example, inaccordance with the teachings of U.S. Pat. No. 6,185,558, entitled“Identifying the items most relevant to a current query based on itemsselected in connection with similar queries” hereby incorporated byreference.

In an exemplary embodiment, in constructing the map 300, keyword mappingengine 106 is configured to take into account not only immediatebrowsing activity of the user (e.g., which search result from a list ofsearch results was selected by the user after a keyword search), butalso subsequent browsing activity. For example, the keyword map may beconstructed based on information such as whether the user completed apurchase after the selection, what other pages the user visit after thesearch results were returned, whether the user returned to the page andmade an alternative selection (indicating that the user did not findwhat they were looking for on the first web page), etc. For example, auser 102 may enter a keyword related to the name of a popular movie andultimately may purchase a product apparently unrelated such as a CD by aparticular artist. The relationship between the movie and the particularartist may not be intuitive and therefore may not be recognized by anautomated ranking algorithm. There may be no readily apparent connectionbetween the items other than the user behavioral pattern detected by webpattern optimization engine 105. However, based on aggregate purchasingdata, web page optimization engine 105 may determine that there existssome connection between the two (e.g., the artist has a song on themovie soundtrack), particularly if the same pattern of behavior isobserved for multiple users.

Accordingly, by taking into account past user activity, map 300 cancapture and utilize user associations to facilitate user searching. Forexample, map 300 can be used to provide the user with not only theinformation that the user was seeking, but also information that theuser was not seeking that would probably be of interest to them. Forexample, using the CD example above, a user may not even be aware of theCD by the particular artist. However, since a number of other userstyping the same search did express interest in the CD, there is a strongpossibility that the current user may also be interested. Thispossibility may be reflected in the aggregate purchasing data in map300, and may be made accessible to the user by displaying selectablesearch queries on the web page, as described below.

Map 300 may further be augmented by assigning a ranking to each productassociated with a keyword. The ranking may be relative to other productsthat are also associated with the keyword. The ranking may beimplemented as a relevance score. For example, products that have beenrepeatedly selected by users may be given a higher relevance score whileproducts that have only been provided sporadically in association withthe keyword may be given a lower relevance score. Map 300 may also beaugmented using different methods such as weighting, data aging, etc.Keyword mapping engine 105 may be configured to modify map 300 based oninput from sources other than search engine 118 or 120 or from moredetailed information generated by search engine 118 or 120.

Products may also be associated with keywords based on informationassociated with each product. For example, search engine 120 may beconfigured to associate a product category with that a keyword based ona known relationship between the product and the category. The productmay be within the category, an accessory of items in the category, aproduct that is often purchased at the same time as items in thecategory, be made by a manufacturer of items normally associated withthe category, etc. Accordingly, each keyword may be associated with bothproducts as well as categories of products.

Products may also be associated with keywords based on other types ofrelationships. For example, map 300 may map keywords to productcategories, keywords to browse nodes, and so on. Additionally, user 102may enter a keyword based on an actual or perceived relationship betweenthe keyword and the good or service sought by the user. For example, auser seeking to purchase an MP3 player may enter the name of awell-known MP3 player as a search term based on the actual relationshipof that name with an MP3 player. Alternatively, a user may enter acommon misspelling of the manufacturer's name or may enter some otherterm associated with the product, based on a perceived relationship. Thekeyword data may further be associated with both broad and narrowercategories of products. For example, if the product is a particularmodel of brand name camera, the listing of keywords may be associatedwith that particular model of brand name camera, as well as the broadcategory of products including all cameras having the same brand name.The strength of the actual or perceived relationship may be based on thenumber of times the relationship is reinforced by users 102 throughrepeated selection of the product based on the keyword.

Although a single map is described above with reference to map 300,system 100 may be configured to generate more than one keyword toproduct map. For example, a first map may be created for a first groupof users and a second map may be created for a second group of users.The groups of users may be defined according to an attribute associatedwith the users such as geographical location, age, gender, interests,etc.

Referring now to. FIG. 3B, a product to keyword map 310 is shownincluding a listing of products and the keywords that have beenassociated with each product, according to an exemplary embodiment.Optimization engine 105 may be configured to reverse map 300 to generateproduct to keyword map 310, hereinafter reverse map 310. Reverse map 310may further include the additional information such as the categoriesand relationship that were associated with each keyword, the relevancescore indicating the strength of the relationship between the keywordand the product, and so on. Accordingly, product to keyword map 310 maybe indexed by product where each product is associated with one or morekeywords. Where multiple maps 300 are provided, generating the reversemap 310 may include generating multiple reverse maps, one for each map300.

Advantageously, reversing the keyword to product map 300 to generateproduct to keyword map 310 produces a listing of the keywords that aremost relevant for the product. Each product will be associated withkeywords that have been shown to be relevant to the particular productbased on actual user activity. These keywords may include keywords foraccessories, related products, products that are commonly associatedwith the product, keywords for products that are often purchasedtogether with the product, etc. Keyword map 310 may be maintained forthousands or millions of product pages or more (as needed, depending onthe number of products offered on the website of website system 100),allowing keywords to be generated for any product page in the keywordmap 310, and avoiding the need to generate optimum keywords for each webpage manually.

Further, as indicated above, for each product, keywords may be rankedbased on their relevance to the particular product. The ranking may beimplemented as a relevance score. The relevance score may beproportional to the number of users that have searched for the keywordand then taken a subsequent action, such a clicking a web page, making apurchase, etc., for the particular product. For example, keywords thathave been associated with users that have made purchases of the productmay be given a higher relevance score while keywords that have only beenprovided sporadically in association with the product may be given alower relevance score. The relevance score of each keyword may furtherbe incorporated from map 300 such that the higher the relevance of aproduct to a particular keyword within map 300, the higher the relevanceof the keyword for the product within reverse map 310.

Map 300 and reverse map 310 may be configured to be created andcontinually updated based on received keywords, products, andassociations. Updating may include addition of new keywords and/orproducts, deletions of older or “stale” keywords or products, updatingof relevance scores, etc. For example, older data may get weighed lessheavily than newer data in determining the relevance score. Updatesand/or changes to map 300 may trigger an update to reverse map 310and/or web pages displaying information based on reverse map 310,described with further detail below with reference to FIG. 4.

Although map 300 and 310 are described above with reference to creatingassociations between keywords and products, system 105 may also beconfigured to create associations between keywords and other web pagesubject matter. Web page subject matter is the general subject matterrepresented in the web page. In the context of an on-line retail website, for example, the subject matter of a web page (e.g., a productdetail page) may be the particular product described on the page, asdescribed above. In other types of web sites, the web page subjectmatter may relate to other subject matter. For example, the subjectmatter “bicycling” may be represented in both an informational web pagecreated by a bicycling enthusiast and a web page containing a newsarticle about the Tour de France. Thus, for an on-line newspaper, theweb page subject matter may be the subject matter of a particular newsstory or the news story itself.

Referring now to FIG. 4, a web page 400 for a product that is associatedwith keywords in reverse map 310 is shown, according to an exemplaryembodiment. In FIG. 4, web page 400 includes the keywords associatedwith the product in reverse map 310. Web page 400 may be created andmaintained by a web page publisher and be configured to displayinformation and functionality associated with the product to a visitorto the web page. The information may include a photograph showing theproduct, testimonials, purchasing functionality, or any otherinformation or functionality that may be of interest to a potentialcustomer desiring to purchase or considering a purchase of the product.

Web page 400 may be configured to include one or more Meta Tags. MetaTags are data stored on the web page but not necessarily displayed to auser 102. The two most popular Meta tags used for search engineoptimization are a Meta description tag and a Meta keyword tag. The Metadescription tag allows web site publishers to describe the subjectmatter of the web page. Search engines 120 may use Meta description taginformation to display the description of a web site in the searchresults. The Meta keyword tag allows web site publishers to put keywordsin web page 400 to help search engines 120 determine the subject matterof web page 400.

Optimization engine 105 may be configured to incorporate one or more ofthe keywords associated with the product in reverse map 310 into one ormore of the Meta Tags. Because these keywords have been provided byusers 102 that have shown a particular interest, it is more likely thatusers in the future entering these keywords will be interested in webpage 400 and will benefit from the placement of the keywords in web page400. The relevance of web page 400 to the keywords has been shown byhistoric user activity as represented in reverse map 310. Insertion ofthe keywords in web page 400 may help an automated ranking algorithm ofsearch engine 120 identify web page 400 as relevant to a searchincluding that keyword, such that web page 400 will be displayed higherin the listing of search results.

In addition to use in the Meta Tags, the keywords may further be used togenerate a listing of keywords 410 that is displayed to a user 102viewing web page 400. Listing of keywords 410 may be listed with anappropriate title such as “Customers found this item by searching for:”followed by the keywords. The keywords may also be used within the URLdescription, the page title, keywords in backlinks, etc. The user mayfurther be provided with the ability to select keywords from the listing410 to perform a search to find related products. Web page 400 mayalternatively include other listings of keywords that are provided fordifferent purposes, such as helping a user discover related or differentproducts. For example, web page 400 may include a listing of keywordsrelated to other searches performed by users that viewed the current webpage, other web pages viewed by users that viewed the current web page,other items purchased by users that entered the same search terms as theuser, etc. Thus, the listing of keywords may be displayed to the user inorder to provide the user with an additional tool to discover relatedproducts.

Referring now to FIG. 5, web page 500 shows a web page that containssecondary products that are similar to a primary product. For example,the web page 500 may be a page that would be reached if a user clicks onthe explore similar items button 420 in FIG. 4. In FIG. 5, each of thedifferent products (including the primary product and the secondarysimilar products) may have an associated set of keywords in reverse map310. For web page 500, the keywords that are added to the Meta Tagand/or that are displayed to the user may be a composite of the keywordsfor the primary product and the keywords for the secondary products. Insuch an arrangement, in selecting keywords for web page 500, keywordsthat are specific to individual products may be weighed less heavilythan keywords that are general to both the primary products and thesecondary products. In this manner, a general set of keywords for webpage 500 may be developed. As a result, when a user conducts a search atsearch engine 120 using general keywords related to a particularproduct, the user may be more likely to land at web page 500 due to thehigher correspondence between the general keywords entered by the userand the general keywords for the web page 500. Accordingly, where a userenters general search terms, web page 500 is more likely to show uphigher in the search rankings than a more detailed product page such asweb page 400 in FIG. 4, and therefore is more likely be the landing pagefor the user.

Referring now to FIG. 6, a web page 600 for, a broad category ofproducts that is associated with keywords in reverse map 310 is shown,according to an exemplary embodiment. Web page 600 is a product categorypage that may be displayed based on entry of the keyword bicycles insearch engine 118 or search engine 120. As indicated above, map 300 andreverse map 310 may map keywords to product categories (and vice versa),keywords to browse nodes (and vice versa), and so on. Generally, webpage 600 may include either a listing of products within a productcategory (such as brands of bicycles) or product categories that havinga common theme (such as bicycling products). The entries with thelisting are selectable by a user 102. Selection of a product willdisplay a web page related to that particular product, similar to webpage 400. Selection of a product category will display a listing ofmultiple products within that product category.

In FIG. 6, web page 600 includes the keywords associated with theproduct category in reverse map 310. For example, web page 600 may beconfigured to include one or more Meta Tags similar to web page 400described above with reference to FIG. 4.

In addition to use in the Meta Tags, the keywords may further be used togenerate a listing of keywords 610 that is displayed to a user 102viewing web page 600. The listing of keywords may be useful withreference to broad categories to identify of items of interest in otherbroad categories. For example, users who have entered keywordsassociated with bicycles may also frequently be interested in booksabout Utah because Utah has good quality biking trails. Displayinglisting 610 may help newer bicyclists to recognize that books about Utahmay be of interest..

Referring now to FIG. 7, a flowchart illustrating a method 700 fordetermining keywords associated with a product by reversing associationsbetween keyword and products and inserting the keyword in a web page forthe product is shown, according to an exemplary embodiment. Method 700may be implemented by optimization engine 105 in conjunction with searchengine 120 and web site system 100.

In a step 710, an association indicator is received by optimizationengine 105. An association indicator is any type of indication that aproduct is associated with a particular keyword. For example, theindicator may be an indication that a user 102 has clicked on a searchlisting for the product after the keyword was used to generate thesearch listing, an indication that a user has purchased the productafter using the keyword, etc.

The association indicator may be received either directly based on anassociation indicator received by optimization engine 105, orindirectly, where the association indicator is detected by anothersystem, such as search engine 120, and communicated to optimizationengine 105. Further, the association may take into account aggregateuser activity for multiple users and for all activity of a given userafter a given search has been performed. As described above, a directassociation may exist where a user 102 enters a keyword and then selectsthe product associated with that keyword. An indirect association mayexist between the product and the keywords where the user engages inother browsing activity on the website before ultimately selecting aproduct.

In a step 720, the product is associated with the keyword within map300. Association with the keyword may include association with theactual keyword, association with other keywords having some relationshipto the keyword, association with a category associated with the keyword,etc.

In a step 730, map 300 is reversed to create reverse map 310 including alisting of products and the keywords that are associated with eachproduct. Map 310 may be generated using a standard database programconfigured to perform the transmutation described above with referenceto FIG. 3B.

In a step 740, the keywords associated each product in map 310 may beinserted into a web page 400 associated with each particular product.Insertion may include population of one or more Meta Tags with thekeywords. Insertion may further include reconfiguration of a listing ofkeywords 410 appearing on web page 400. Insertion may yet furtherinclude underlining, bolding, making selectable, or otherwisehighlighting instances of the words that appear to the user on web page400 (e.g., bolding words already appearing in the text of a newsarticle). The words may be made selectable, for example by a hyperlinkassociated with the keyword that will link the user to a web pagedirected to the keyword or that will initiate a new search based on thekeyword.

Method 700 may be utilized to generate a web page associated with the aproduct offered for sale by the operator of the search engine.Alternatively, method 700 may be performed on behalf of a third partywhere the third party provides user tracking information to the web sitesystem 100 performing method 700. Web site system 100 may store andprocess the user tracking information to generate either a web page or alisting of keywords for the third party. Web site system 100 may furtherprovide program code to be used by the third party in generating theuser tracking information, inserting the keywords, generating a webpage, etc.

According to an exemplary embodiment, step 740 may be performed byoptimization engine 105 automatically without human intervention,allowing optimum keywords to be included on the web page without manualselection of the keywords and reconfiguration of the web page. Forexample, a plurality of web pages 400 may be stored in a databaseassociated with or accessible by optimization engine 105. If web page400 is dynamically generated, each web page may comprise a templatecomprising fields that are populated with data based on service requestsmade to services at the time the page is generated. For the web pages400-600, as part of the process of generating the web page, the web pagegeneration engine 108 may make a service request to the optimizationengine 105, which may respond to the service request by supplying a listof keywords for publication with the web page. The web page generationengine 108 may then populate the web page with the keywords in one ofthe fields of the template (e.g., the field 410, the field for the metatag, and/or other fields). If web page 400 is statically generated,optimization engine 105 may be configured to include a text modificationengine configured to automatically insert the keywords and any necessarysupporting information into the html or other code associated with eachweb page 400-600 based on reverse map 310.

Here and throughout, terms such as “user,” “publisher,” “visitor,” andso forth are to be understood in the broadest possible sense. Herein,the term “user” is used generically to refer to consumers, advertisers,publishers; and visitors. By way of illustration and not of limitation,a “publisher” is not restricted to persons or entities who purport to bein the on-line publishing business (or any other kind of publishingbusiness), nor to entities who have complete or even primary controlover the content of particular websites; but rather is used in a moregeneral sense. In the context of Internet-based advertising, forexample, “publisher” includes any person or entity responsible directlyor indirectly for putting content on the Internet, whether by hosting orsponsoring websites, posting pages, frames, graphics, applets, blogs,audiovisual content, etc., on their own or others' websites, providingweb services that can source content for websites, or in any othermanner. Still further, a “visitor” may be an individual who visits andviews or otherwise perceives the content of a web site and pages thereinvia a web browser or other client software program running on a personalcomputer, wireless handheld device, or the like, but may also be, forexample, a corporate or other entity whose servers access published webcontent and advertisements by invoking web services through appropriateapplication programming interfaces (APIs); a “visitor” may or may not bethe intended or actual end user of a product or service that is thesubject of an advertisement, etc. A visitor may also be an automatedsystem, such as a web crawler associated with a search engine. A“potential customer” may be an individual who views advertising,regardless of the media in which it is published (e.g., print,television, on-line, etc), and may or may not be the intended or actualend user of a product or service that is the subject of anadvertisement, etc. In sum, persons of skill in the art will appreciatethat a wide variety of actors, more than can be conveniently set forthhere, can play the roles of “advertiser,” “publisher,” and “visitor” forpurposes of the present invention. It will be further appreciated thatthe selfsame person or entity may be both “publisher” and “advertiser,”or both “publisher” and “visitor,” or both “advertiser” and “visitor”,or even all three, depending on the context. In a similar vein, and aswill be apparent from the foregoing, terms such as “web page,”“website,” and so forth are used to give specific illustrative examplesof settings in which on-line content and advertisements can be presentedto and perceived by users. Such examples are not intended to belimiting, and persons of skill in the art will appreciate that manyother such settings now known or yet to be developed may be suitable tothe practice of the present invention in specific embodiments.

It should be noted that although flow charts may be provided herein toshow a specific order of method steps, it is understood that the orderof these steps may differ from what is depicted. Also two or more stepsmay be performed concurrently or with partial concurrence. Suchvariation will depend on the software and hardware systems chosen and ondesigner choice. It is understood that all such variations are withinthe scope of the invention. Likewise, software and web implementationsof the present invention could be accomplished with standard programmingtechniques with rule-based logic and other logic to accomplish thevarious database searching steps, correlation steps, comparison stepsand decision steps. It should also be noted that the word “component” asused herein and in the claims is intended to encompass implementationsusing one or more lines of software code, and/or hardwareimplementations, and/or equipment for receiving manual inputs. It is tobe understood that any method steps as recited herein (e.g., in theclaims) may be performed by a configuration utility (e.g., Java™-based)executed by a computing device based on input by a user. Of course,according to various alternative embodiments, any suitable configurationutility, application, system, computing device, etc. may be used toexecute, implement and/or perform method steps as recited in thisdisclosure (including the claims).

The invention is described above with reference to drawings. Thesedrawings illustrate certain details of specific embodiments thatimplement the systems and methods and programs of the present invention.However, describing the invention with drawings should not be construedas imposing on the invention any limitations associated with featuresshown in the drawings. The present invention contemplates methods,systems and program products on any machine-readable media foraccomplishing its operations. The embodiments of the present inventionmay be implemented using an existing computer processor, or by a specialpurpose computer processor incorporated for this or another purpose orby a hardwired system.

As noted above, embodiments within the scope of the present inventioninclude program products comprising machine-readable media for carryingor having machine-executable instructions or data structures storedthereon. Such machine-readable media can be any available media whichcan be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer orother machine with a processor. By way of example, such machine-readablemedia can comprise RAM, ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or otheroptical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storagedevices, or any other medium which can be used to carry or store desiredprogram code in the form of machine-executable instructions or datastructures and which can be accessed by a general purpose or specialpurpose computer or other machine with a processor. When information istransferred or provided over a network or another communicationsconnection (either hardwired, wireless, or a combination of hardwired orwireless) to a machine, the machine properly views the connection as amachine-readable medium. Thus, any such connection is properly termed amachine-readable medium. Combinations of the above are also includedwithin the scope of machine-readable media. Machine-executableinstructions comprise, for example, instructions and data which cause ageneral purpose computer, special purpose computer, or special purposeprocessing machines to perform a certain function or group of functions.

Embodiments of the invention are described in the general context ofmethod steps which may be implemented in one embodiment by a programproduct including machine-executable instructions, such as program code,for example, in the form of program modules executed by machines innetworked environments. Generally, program modules include routines,programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that performparticular tasks or implement particular abstract data types.Machine-executable instructions, associated data structures, and programmodules represent examples of program code for executing steps of themethods disclosed herein. The particular sequence of such executableinstructions or associated data structures represent examples ofcorresponding acts for implementing the functions described in suchsteps.

Embodiments of the present invention may be practiced in a networkedenvironment using logical connections to one or more remote computershaving processors. Logical connections may include a local area network(LAN) and a wide area network (WAN) that are presented here by way ofexample and not limitation. Such networking environments are commonplacein office-wide or enterprise-wide computer networks, intranets and theInternet, and may use a wide variety of different communicationprotocols. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that such networkcomputing environments will typically encompass many types of computersystem configurations, including personal computers, hand-held devices,multi-processor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumerelectronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and thelike. Embodiments of the invention may also be practiced in distributedcomputing environments where tasks are performed by local and remoteprocessing devices that are linked (either by hardwired links, wirelesslinks, or by a combination of hardwired or wireless links) through acommunications network. In a distributed computing environment, programmodules may be located in both local and remote memory storage devices.

An exemplary system for implementing the overall system or portions ofthe invention might include a general purpose computing device in theform of a computer, including a processing unit, a system memory, and asystem bus that couples various system components including the systemmemory to the processing unit. The system memory may include read onlymemory (ROM) and random access memory (RAM). The computer may alsoinclude a magnetic hard disk drive for reading from and writing to amagnetic hard disk, a magnetic disk drive for reading from or writing toa removable magnetic disk, and an optical disk drive for reading from orwriting to a removable optical disk such as a CD-ROM or other opticalmedia. The drives and their associated machine-readable media providenonvolatile storage of machine-executable instructions, data structures,program modules, and other data for the computer.

The foregoing description of embodiments of the invention has beenpresented for purposes of illustration and description. It is notintended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise formdisclosed, and modifications and variations are possible in light of theabove teachings or may be acquired from practice of the invention. Theembodiments were chosen and described in order to explain the principalsof the invention and its practical application to enable one skilled inthe art to utilize the invention in various embodiments and with variousmodifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method comprising:obtaining a plurality of search criteria submitted by one or more usersto a network information system, wherein the network information systemmaintains network resources displaying information corresponding to aplurality of products; obtaining user action data identifying which ofthe network resources were accessed by the one or more users aftersubmission of the individual search criteria of the plurality of searchcriteria; processing the user action data to generate a plurality ofsearch criterion maps, wherein individual search criterion maps map anindividual search criterion, of the plurality of search criteria, to aset of network resources accessed by the one or more users subsequent tosubmission of the individual search criterion; processing the pluralityof search criterion maps to generate a plurality of product maps,wherein individual product maps map an individual product, of theplurality of products, to a set of search criteria submitted by the oneor more users prior to accessing a network resource corresponding to theindividual product; obtaining a request for information regarding afirst product from the plurality of products; extracting, from a firstproduct map, of the plurality of product maps, that corresponds to thefirst product, the set of search criteria submitted by the one or moreusers prior to accessing the network resource corresponding to the firstproduct; and transmitting the extracted set of search criteria fordisplay to a requesting user.
 2. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 1, wherein the network resources correspond to network-accessibleproduct information pages.
 3. The computer-implemented method of claim1, wherein transmitting the extracted set of search criteria for displayto a requesting user comprising transmitting an network-accessibleproduct information page to the requesting user regarding the firstproduct, the network-accessible product information page including alisting of the extracted set of search criteria.
 4. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 3 further comprising generating thenetwork-accessible product information page.
 5. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 4, wherein generating the network-accessible productinformation page comprising: identifying text within thenetwork-accessible product information page that corresponds to a searchcriterion of the extracted set of search criteria; and transforming thetext into an interface element selectable to initiate a search on thenetwork information system based at least in part on the searchcriterion.
 6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, whereinindividual search criteria within the listing of the set of searchcriteria are represented to the requesting user as interface elementsselectable to initiate a search on the network information system basedat least in part on the individual search criteria within the listing ofthe set of search criteria.
 7. A system comprising: one or more datastores including: a record of a plurality of search criteria submittedby one or more users to a network information system, wherein thenetwork information system maintains network resources displayinginformation corresponding to a plurality of products; and user actiondata identifying, for individual search criteria of the plurality ofsearch criteria, which of the network resources were accessed by the oneor more users after submission of the individual search criteria; andone or more computing devices in communication with the one or more datastores and configured with computer-executable instructions to: generatea plurality of search criterion maps, wherein individual searchcriterion maps map individual search criterion based, at least in part,on user action data indicative of a set of network resources accessed bythe one or more users subsequent to submission of the individual searchcriterion; generate a plurality of product maps for individual productsto a set of search criteria submitted by the one or more users prior toaccessing a network resource corresponding to the individual product;and store the plurality of product maps to the one or more data stores.8. The system of claim 7, wherein the one or more computing devices arefurther configured with the computer-executable instructions to: obtaina request for information regarding a first product from the pluralityof products; identify a first product map, of the plurality of productmaps, that corresponds to the first product; extract, from the firstproduct map, the set of search criteria submitted by the one or moreusers prior to accessing the network resource corresponding to the firstproduct; and transmit the extracted set of search criteria in responseto the request.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein the one or morecomputing devices are further configured with the computer-executableinstructions to generate a network-accessible display page correspondingto the first product and transmit the extracted set of search criteriawithin the network-accessible display page.
 10. The system of claim 9,wherein individual search criteria within the listing of the set ofsearch criteria are represented in the network-accessible display pageas interface elements selectable to initiate a search on the networkinformation system based at least in part on the individual searchcriteria within the listing of the set of search criteria.
 11. Thesystem of claim 7, wherein the user action data comprising browsingactivity of users responsive to search results associated with theindividual search criteria.
 12. The system of claim 7, whereinindividual search criterion maps of the plurality of search criterionmaps are associated with a user group of a plurality of user groups, andwherein individual user groups of the plurality of user groups aredefined according to at least one attribute associated with users of theindividual user group.
 13. The system of claim 12, wherein the at leastone attribute associated with each user is selected from a groupcomprising geographical location, age, and gender.
 14. A systemcomprising: one or more data stores including a plurality of productmaps, wherein individual product maps map an individual product, of aplurality of products, to a set of search criteria submitted by one ormore users of a network information system prior to accessing a networkresource corresponding to the individual product; one or more computingdevices in communication with the one or more data stores and configuredwith computer-executable instructions to: obtain a request forinformation regarding a first product from the plurality of products;identify a first product map, of the plurality of product maps, thatcorresponds to the first product; extract, from the first product map,the set of search criteria submitted by the one or more users prior toaccessing the network resource corresponding to the first product; andtransmit the extracted set of search criteria in response to therequest.
 15. The system of claim 14, wherein one or more computingdevices are further configured with the computer-executable instructionsto: obtain a record of a plurality of search criteria submitted by theone or more users to the network information system; obtain user actiondata identifying, for individual search criteria of the plurality ofsearch criteria, which of the network resources were accessed by the oneor more users after submission of the individual search criteria;process the user action data to generate a plurality of search criterionmaps, wherein individual search criterion maps map an individual searchcriterion, of the plurality of search criteria, to a set of networkresources accessed by the one or more users subsequent to submission ofthe individual search criterion; process the plurality of searchcriterion maps to generate the plurality of product maps; and store theplurality of product maps in the one or more data stores.
 16. The systemof claim 15, wherein individual search criterion maps of the pluralityof search criterion maps are associated with a user group of a pluralityof user groups, and wherein individual user groups of the plurality ofuser groups are defined according to at least one attribute associatedwith users of the individual user group.
 17. The system of claim 14,wherein the one or more computing devices are further configured withthe computer-executable instructions to generate a network-accessibledisplay page corresponding to the first product and transmit theextracted set of search criteria within the network-accessible displaypage.
 18. The system of claim 17, wherein the one or more computingdevices are further configured with the computer-executable instructionsto generate the network-accessible product information page at leastpartly by identifying text within the network-accessible productinformation page that corresponds to a search criterion of the extractedset of search criteria and transforming the text into an interfaceelement selectable to initiate a search on the network informationsystem based at least in part on the search criterion.
 19. The system ofclaim 17, wherein individual search criteria within the listing of theset of search criteria are represented in the network-accessible displaypage as interface elements selectable to initiate a search on thenetwork information system based at least in part on the individualsearch criteria within the listing of the set of search criteria. 20.The system of claim 17, wherein the one or more computing devices arefurther configured with the computer-executable instructions to insertwithin the network-accessible product information page one or more metatags associated with the extracted set of search criteria.